COVID-19 OVERVIEW
Genomic surveillance was a significant component of Australia’s response to COVID-19, established in the national approach to surveillance through genomic indicators listed in the ‘Australian National Disease Surveillance Plan for COVID-19’. The CDGN supported the national COVID-19 response through a dedicated working group to monitor SARS-CoV-2 variants to inform Australia’s national approach in detecting and reporting of Variants of Concern (VOC), Variants of Interest (VOI), and Variants Under Monitoring (VUM).
CDGN VOC WORKING GROUP
The CDGN VOC Working Group is responsible for ongoing monitoring and surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants literature and global events to inform Australia’s national approach in detecting and reporting of Variants of Concern (VOC), Variants of Interest (VOI) and Variants Under Monitoring (VUM), and mutations of interest reported in the literature. The working group comprised of laboratory and government representatives with expertise in bioinformatics, genomic epidemiology, viral evolution, phylodynamics and medical microbiology.
The CDGN VOC Working Group regularly reviewed and updated the national VOC Laboratory Case Definition and the VOC Literature Summary to ensure the most up to date information is reflected and communicated to the public health laboratories and units. This literature summary was distributed to all jurisdictions across Australia and New Zealand through national committees, the Public Health Laboratory Network (PHLN) and the Communicable Diseases Network of Australia (CDNA). The CDGN VOC Working Group also works closely with the AusTrakka National Analysis Team to ensure timely integration of new VOCs or VOIs that are being monitored and reported in the AusTrakka National VOC reports submitted to the national, state and territory governments on a twice-weekly basis via the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), PHLN and CDNA.
The CDGN VOC Working Group is still available to support ongoing SARS-CoV-2 surveillance, now shifting to convening on an as-needs basis.
Nationally aggregated sample data
The table below shows the total number of Omicron sequences in Australia categorised as variants of concern, variants of interest and variants under monitoring, as well as the number and proportion of sequences identified for each sub-lineage in the past 28 days.
Data is not equivalent to case numbers, as there may be duplicate sequences for a single case, and not all cases have samples which are able to be sequenced. Sequence numbers may vary from week to week as new sub-lineages are characterised and sequences are re-classified into these new sub-lineages.
The latest report as of May 2025
^ the number (and percentage) of sequences within the preceding 4-week (28 day) period
Green boxes indicate decreases in proportion compared to previous 28-day period, whereas yellow boxes indicate increases in sequence proportion. VOI and VUMs which have not been observed in the past 12 weeks (including DV, XBC, XBF, XBB.1.5, XDK, B.1.1.529, BA.1, BA.3, BA.4, BA.5, EG.5 (XBB.1.9.2.5), JN.1.7, XBB.1.16, XBB (all sub-lineages) and XBB.1.9.1, XBB.1.9.2 (and sub-lineages) ) have been removed from this table.
Global Overview
During the four-week reporting period from 6 January to 2 February 2025, weekly SARS-CoV-2 PCR percent test positivity changed from 7.3% in the beginning week of the reporting period to 5.0% in the last week, as detected in integrated sentinel and systematic virological surveillance within the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS). During this period, an average of 69 900 specimens across 103 countries were tested for SARS-CoV-2 each week.
The World Health Organization is monitoring several SARS-CoV-2 variants, including one variant of interest (VOI) JN.1, and seven variants under monitoring (VUMs). JN.1, the VOI, accounted for 16.3% of sequences in week 5 of 2025. The most prevalent VUM XEC showed a decrease in prevalence, accounting for 42.7% of sequences. LP.8.1 and LB.1 are the only tracked variants currently growing in prevalence, accounting for 13.9% and 1.2%, respectively, of sequences in week 5 of 2025. All the remaining VUMs are declining in prevalence.
Twenty-three (10%) countries reported COVID-19 deaths, and 83 (35%) countries reported COVID-19 cases globally during the 28-day period from 6 January to 2 February 2025. According to the data provided, over 147 000 new cases were reported during the 28-day period, representing a 16% decrease in the number of reported cases. At the same time, around 4500 new deaths were reported, representing a 28% increase in new deaths compared to the previous 28-day period (9 December 2024 to 5 January 2025).
During the same period, hospitalizations and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions were reported at least once in 43 (18%) and 33 (14%) countries, respectively. Over 16 700 new hospitalizations and 700 new intensive care unit admissions were recorded based on the data that was available. New hospitalizations and ICU admissions decreased by 40% and 31% respectively among the countries that consistently reported these data over the past and previous reporting periods.
This global overview is taken from the latest WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Epidemiological Update.